Rockin' the trial, out on the town.

The one disadvantage of having a destination wedding is you don't have the convenience of having a trial or even a taste test at your leisure. We got to Hawaii a week, one week, seven days before the wedding. That gave me seven days to visit our venue, have a hair trial, and get all those itty bitty lil' details in check; all while trying to relax, have fun and entertain with our guests in paradise.

Two days after we got to the rock, I had my hair and make-up trial with May from Beauty by May. If you don't remember, I was looking for a half up/half down do with dramatic eyes.

Before:

Yikes!

After:

Makes me wish I had some one to do my hair and make-up everyday!

I paid extra for fake lashes and air brush make-up. The eyelashes were interesting. I've worn fake lashes before at a friend's wedding, but these weren't the strips of lashes, they were individual lashes. I'm not sure if there's a huge difference in results, but I was happy with them. The air brush make-up was very light and flawless. Totally loved it!

Since I had paid for the trial, I figure I might as well get my moneys worth, so I rocked it out that night. I gathered all my friends and we went to Dave and Busters for some game play and a few drinks.

Me and my two bestest and oldest friends I have, back from when I used to live in Hawaii


One of my bestest PA friends and her boyfriend (who also happens to be my co-worker), shootin' up aliens.

Me and my "baby" brother. Isn't he a cutie?!

Mr. Mek., L and my brother totally killing it on a trivia game.

My brother, Mr. Mek and I playing a racing game. Mr. Mek was cheating and I was obviously upset about it. :o)

The whole gang! Everyone put their tickets together and we got light up lollipops. Somehow Mr. Mek got the ONLY blue one. :oP

This was also one of the only nights that I had all my friends together for a night out. Plus, I got to test how long the make-up and hair would last through the night.

Anyone else got a trial, then went out?

Hair today, gone tomorrow.

Welp, I did it. I chopped all my hair off. I've been dying to do it for some time now and now with the wedding over I nothing holding me back. I cut off about 10 inches of hair and donated it to Locks of Love.

I wasn't the only one in the family that got the choppity, chop, chop done. Lil' B is rockin' a new do too!

He's a rockstar!

We are officially Mr. & Mrs. Mek!

I feel like I've been away for a century! Well, I'm back now and have soooo much to share! We had a wonderful, laid back kind-of wedding. I really wouldn't have had it any other way. :o) It was great, the weather was wonderful, no major mishaps, no ugly cry. I have much to share with you; final preps before the wedding, our luau reception, and our rainy honeymoon. Mrs. Mek is back..with a vengeance. :o)

Here are a couple teasers from the fabulous Frank Amodo! These are enough to hold me over for now...but I'm dying to see more!

Dear Hubby...

Mr. Mek,

In only a few hours we will be legally bonded together...forever. I can't believe that after ALL our ups and downs, over the last 3 and a half years, has brought us to this path. I love it. I love you. And I'm excited to start a new chapter in my life, with you in it. I know that with everything we've been through, it's only made us and our relationship stronger; I can't imagine anything that could break us. :o) 

I honestly can't wait to get this wedding part over, so we can start the marriage part and the family part. In retrospect, it's really true what they say, the wedding is one day, the marriage is forever. And while I will definitely enjoy this one day, I can't wait for forever to start. 

Mwah!

Ms. Mek

I'm leaving on jet plane...

First, I want to apologize for not being an avid bee lately. It really is true when they say that the time goes by fast. Before I knew it I was in the 30 day stretch and still had TONS to do and not much time to blog about it, but don't worry I did make time to record it with my handy digital camera. You'll just have to be patient with me because I leave in a few hours for Hawaii! By this time tomorrow (or today, actually), I will be in Hawaii running around like a headless chicken trying to get things done. By this time next week, I will be getting married! 

I want to thank you bees (and knotties!) for being such an inspiration! I can honestly say that not one idea for our wedding is a Ms. Mek original. You guys are amazing! Thanks again, and next time I "see" you again will be after the wedding! 

SF looking for SM...with kids.

I am pretty much the last of my friends to have a child. It's quite interesting actually, about 95% of my non-married friends have kids, but only about 30% of my married friends have kids. That being said, I've seen my friends with kids go through lots of drama. Drama with their baby's daddy (whether they are still the boyfriend, or now the ex), drama with the court, drama with the now boyfriend, drama with the ex's new girlfriend....

As their friend, sometimes they call me to vent or ask advice. And I have to admit; sometimes I have a hard time sympathizing with them, because technically in my relationship, I am the "other" woman. Now, before I confuse you, I did not know Mr. Mek when he was dating his ex, (we'll call her "A"). I didn't come into the picture till about 3 months after they had broken up. Mr. Mek and A were young when they had Lil' B. By the time I met Mr. Mek, he was 22 and Lil' B had just turned 1. I was the first (and only) girl he seriously dated after his relationship ended with A, so it was really hard for both of them to adjust to each other being back in the dating scene and coming to the realization that their relationship wasn't going to work and that they weren’t going to be the "traditional" family.

A and I have a decent relationship. I wouldn't call her my friend. I've never, ever hung out with her, but I wouldn't be opposed to it. We're always very polite to each other. I've even bought and made her mothers day and Christmas gifts (always from Lil' B, of course). But it definitely wasn't always this way. The first year Mr. Mek and I were together was hard for her. I can totally understand where she is coming from; I'm the new girl that's around her son and I think deep down she was afraid of her son calling me mom. Something I would never let happen. I love Lil' B, but I would never try to take the place of his mom, he already has one. On the weekends that Mr. Mek would have Lil' B, she would go out with her friends, like any other 22/23 year old would, and drunkenly call him at 2, 3, 4 in the morning. This I found very disrespectful. Not only to me, but to herself and her son. Did she really expect Mr. Mek to put his one year old son in a car at 3 am to pick up his drunken mother? Where were her friends? Thankfully 3 years later, we've gotten past all the drama and have started to become a family. All of us. I hope that one day we'll all feel comfortable enough to maybe even take vacations together. A pipe dream? Maybe.

While I might not know first hand, I can imagine that being a parent, especially a single parent, is difficult, but what I think most people forget (or don't even consider) is how hard it is to be the one dating a single parent. Just about every fight, every issue, decision, every situation your significant other has with the mother (or father) of his child effects you too, yet you have no say, because...well...he's not your kid. He might not be my son, but I've spent time, money, rearranged my schedule for him. And while I'm totally okay and happy to do all this, it's sometimes hard to hear my friends complain about their baby's daddy's girlfriend, because I am that girl.

People give credit to single parents, no credit is given to those dating the single parents. Am I asking for you to tell me "good job"? No, I just wanted to spread awareness that the girlfriend of your baby's daddy isn't out to make your life hell and that we don't always have it easy either so please refrain from causing any unnecessary drama just because you can. It's not needed and really not realistic that your ex won't date till your kid is 18. Give her a chance and trust that your significant other is not going to intentionally danger your child or choose to date someone without your child in mind.

Wedding Guilt

While I've actually enjoyed planning a destination wedding, there are a few things that has me feeling guilty and it's all because we're having a destination wedding.

Unfortunately, majority of Mr. Mek's family and friends will not be able to make our wedding. Besides the undeniable cost, some of his family have been dealing with health issues or have military obligations, which prevents them from being able to attend. There are a few happy reasons why some can't attend; his brother and his best friend are both planning a wedding of their own, both to take place this summer. Out of the 19 guests who will be in attendance to our wedding, only one of them is a guest of Mr. Meks. His mom. While Mr. Mek is totally fine with this and really could care less how many of his family and friends are able or not able to make it, I can't help but feel a lil' guilty about it. Even worse, we weren't able to bring his 4 year old son to Hawaii with us. This I feel the worst about. Again, Mr. Mek is cool, calm and collected about the situation. I just feel bad that my bestest's lil' girl is going to be our flower girl and it would've been sooooo adorable to have Lil' B be in the wedding to, but alas, he won't be able to attend. I feel horrible that Lil' B won't be able to participate in his dad's wedding day.

I can't be the only one. What are your wedding day guilt's?

Sales!

Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sale is going on right now (in stores till January 12th) and if you're looking for some great threads to wear on your wedding day, now is the time to check it out! Once upon a time, I worked for Vickis. While every store will be stocked with different sale items, they do receive new shipments every week, so their stock of sale items might be different week to week. I stopped in at my local Vickis last week and was surprised to see the abundance of "bridal" undies they had! Most of these were on sale for $5.99, rather than the original price of $14-$16. I, myself, scored a pair of undies with the ruffles (second photo). :o)

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Don't forget to check out Victoria's Secrets's website for cute dresses to wear on your honeymoon, or maybe even bridesmaid dresses for the "unbride". They also have some swim wear on sale if your going somewhere tropical after your wedding.

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Bath and Body Works (who is corporately linked to Victoria's Secret) Semi Annual Sale is going on too, which could be a great place to pick up favors for your shower or gifts for your wedding attendants. Like this lil' kit, $10 (originally $30).

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Have you been taking advantage of the after Holiday sales for your wedding or honeymoon? What sale suggestions do you have?

Trash the Dress....for Charity!

For all my Central PA brides, Wink 104 is hosting a "Trash the Dress for Charity"!

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"On December 20th at 12noon the Crowne Plaza Harrisburg, along with the photographic genius of Scott Church, will be hosting the first ever Trash the Dress event in Pennsylvania. Local brides and bridesmaids get your dresses ready to be photographed jumping into the pool at the hotel and dodging water balloons from across the room!

Participants who want to trash their dress pay $50. One half of the proceeds pays for a 11x14 ready to frame photographic print of the bride in her dress plus a CD full of images from the day, the other half will be directly donated to The Four Diamonds Fund and Penn State Children’s Hospital. Anyone over the age of 18 with a formal dress, (old prom dress, bridesmaid dress that can never be worn in public again) should plan to attend. Spectators are welcome to attend and encourage the dress destroying festivities. This time, there will be no stress…just a mess and amazing fun making it!" source

I've had the pleasure of working with Scott Church a few years ago and he is awesome! You will not regret it!

For more information: Wink 104's Trash the Dress or contact the Crowne Plaza Harrisburg at 717-920-1796 or Margaret Murphy at MMurphy@CPHarrisburg.com

I'm Uber Amazing!

Mucho thanks to Silvia from s + d- The DIY route to wedding planning! for nominating my blog for The Uber (AKA Super) Amazing Blog Award!


Uber (synonym to Super) Amazing Blog Award is a blog award given to sites who:~ inspires you~ makes you smile and laugh~ or maybe gives amazing information~ a great read~ has an amazing design~ and any other reasons you can think of that makes them uber amazing!


I'm passing on the love to:

A Wedding in Hawaii. How Original.

Tattooed Bride

Zombiebride

The Sunset House

Isn't She Lovely

The rules of this award are:
* Put the logo on your blog or post.
* Nominate at least 5 blogs (can be more) that for you are Uber Amazing!
* Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.
* Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.
Mahalo!!

Ring Orb-nament

Ring orbs are a great alternative to the traditional ring pillow! Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so, Mrs. Bell Pepper and Mrs. Kiwi both loved this idea too.

For those who liked this idea but are having problems finding such a thing, look no farther! Here's a lil' twist on the idea...

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And these could be hung on your Christmas tree for years to come in remembrance of your special day. Red Envelope suggests that "write your dreams on the paper scrolls that accompany these ornaments, then tuck them inside the vivid enameled interiors and hang them on the tree. It’s the perfect vessel to hold your hopes for the year"

Thanks Malia for the suggestion!

Our dating years, in book form.

I have a habit of starting craft projects and then never finishing them. There was the pair of bell bottom pants I tried to hand sew in high school, or the sock monkey I never finished and I have a couple scrapbooks that are less than halfway done.

Most of my projects end up looking like this...not finished. source

Last year, when I was a bridesmaid and a friend's wedding, another bridesmaid and I started meeting once a week to scrapbook the bride's wedding events. In 6 months, we were able to scrap all the bridal events; the shower, the bachelorette party, and the wedding. We had gotten sooo much done that we decided to continue to meet once a week and start scrapping our own memories. She worked on a book for her husband and I started to scrap all the dating memories of Mr. Mek and I. ::click on images for larger images::

Mr. Mek and I (with friends) white water rafting in West Virgina.

Chillin' at the beach.

The condo Mr. Mek and I bought!

Our trip to Vegas.

Mr. Mek and I at a Little Brother hip hop show.

I've been working on the book for 5 months now, and I'm maybe halfway done. With a lil' over 3.5 months before we leave for Hawaii (YIKES), I'm hoping to have the book done by then so I can have it on display at our welcome BBQ. I've been working double time to get it done and am real excited to finally have finished something. I might actually finish a craft project! Mr. Mek knows I've been working on it and as much as I've tried to show it to him, he refuses to look at it and wishes to be surprised when it's all done.

Any projects you've been working on that might not be done before the deadline?

A guest at Tony n' Tina's Wedding

Once upon a time, before I had the honor of being a bee, the weddingbee honored me with 10 free tickets to see Tony n Tina's Wedding; an interactive off Broadway play.

Okay, okay, so I wasn't the original winner, but apparently the original winner of these tickets couldn't use them, so they were offered to me. There was no hesitation on my part to accept these "golden" tickets!

I was able to gather and coordinate with 6 of my bestest girls (do you know how hard it is to schedule a date between 7 girls?). We rented a 7 seater mini van and 6 of us drove the 2.5 hour drive to NYC together; the 7th girlie met us in the city.

We got to NYC a lil' early so we stopped in at the M&M store and walked a good mile to try Beard Papa's infamous cream puffs (and moochi ice cream! Yum!).

We knew we would be walking a lot so most of us wore sneakers and carried a pair of heels in our purses to change into later.

A and I chillin' at the M&M store.

Then it was onto the show! We had great, front and center seats. While the show lacked in plot, the characters where wonderful! They did a great job interacting with us and were just too damn hilarious!

The way the show is set up is you're guests at...well..Tony n' Tina's wedding. There was an entertaining ceremony, reception (Italian dinner! Yum!), complete with a wedding singer, dancing, champagne toast, and throwing of the bouquet.

One of the bridesmaids joining us for dinner.

I lil' pole dancing done by the father of the groom's girlfriend; the father of the groom is the one with his hands in the air.

My friend, K is preggers and so was one of the bridesmaids at Tony n' Tina's Wedding. Doesn't the bridesmaid kind of look like Debra from Everybody Loves Raymond?
Actually, 3 of my girls who trekked to NYC are pregnant! K is actually 8 months preggers and was walking around NYC like she owned the place!
Don't worry K wasn't really drinking, we just thought it would be funny to pose this shot.

These girlies were my old college roomies. We went to an art school outside of Philly for photography, so we HAD to pose with the wedding photographer. I asked him if he had a business card and this is what he pulled out of his pocket: Erotic Funerals?! I called the number later, out of curiosity and got the voicemail of someone named Joe. Maybe Joe is on Sal's revenge hit list? hehe. I blurred out the rest of Joe's number so he wouldn't get a million prank calls. Poor Joe.

At the end of the night, the wedding singer belted out a few tunes. I somehow got dragged up front with him. I have no idea what I'm doing in this photo; kind of looks like I'm singing with him (For the sake of all people, I don't sing in public!)

A lil' dancing. J, the girl in the grey pants on the end, is 5 months preggers and doing high-kicks. My friends are unbelievable.

The whole group with a couple cast members.

We were invited to the after party, but we had to unfortunately turn down the offer; we had a 2.5-3 hour car drive back to good ol' Central PA.

Most of my friends have kids (or are currently pregnant) , which makes it difficult for them to attend my wedding in Hawaii. I'm really glad I had the opportunity to have a girls day with them.

How Mr. Mek and I became to be

I wish I had some romantic story to tell of Mr. Mek and I. I wish I could tell you that I knew he was the one right away and that it was love at first sight. It wasn't like that at all. First off, we met in a bar. And I'm pretty sure I was pretty tipsy. hehe.

It was Wednesday night (yea, call it my mid-week stress reliever) and my girlies and I headed to our usual Wednesday night locale at the local watering hole. I'm a happy drunk, so after throwin' back a few beers and some shots with the girls, I was being my friendly self and saying hi to random strangers at the bar. Mr. Mek crossed my path and I said, "hello".
Mr. Mek: What nationality are you?
Me: White & Filipino.
Mr. Mek: Me too!!
Me: No way! Here's my phone number.
Done.

I got the traditional 2 day call back and while I'd like to say the rest is history, it wasn't so easy. We "casually" dated for months and he would tell me he wanted to be "official", then take it back; he also took back the first two times he told me he loved me. LoL. Our first year was rocky. We dealt with insecurities, trust issues....we even broke up once for about 4 months. Then Mr. Mek got into some trouble. And I was there for him. For ALL of it. This gave him a whole new respect and appreciation for me. I forgave him for the past and after time we formed a new relationship, a more full-filling one. Two years after all the drama, our relationship now is stronger than ever.

Ever hear a song that brings you back to a specific time or reminds you of an event in your life? This song by Murs, Love and Appreciate, explains how our relationship went, in a nutshell.

What song explains your relationship?

I've been Tagged!

I've been blog "tagged" by Amber of The Sweeneys, so here it is...

4 Things I Did Today

1. Visited the local vocational school today.

2. Took *funny* photos of my co-workers. (see image on right. Note that the suit he's wearing is backwards; the butt pad is on the front)

3. Also took serious work photos.

4. Ate lunch at the 'rents house.

4 Things On My To Do List

1. Got my 3 hour non-credit course tonight at the local community college

2. Gotta clean house. :oP

3. My dad's been harassing me to contact banks about refinancing my house.

4. Take photos of Mr. Mek's lil' boy. We're going "cheap" for Christmas this year and Mr. Mek's family is getting photos of the lil' one.

4 Of My Guiltiest Pleasures

1. Food. I'm such a foodie. I love all food. I'm a food whore.

2. Reality shows. I admit it...I love 'em. The Hills (which is a totally pointless show, I admit), Jon and Kate plus 8 (a fave!!), Rich Bride, Poor Bride, ALL medical surgery shows...love 'em!

3. Cereal. I know this goes along with food, but I seriously could eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It needed it's own number.

4. Airports. What can I say? I love traveling and I love airports.

4 Random Facts About Me:

1. I swear I'm dyslexic. Never been diagnosed with it, but I swear I am...especially when it comes to numbers.

2. My first job ever (besides babysitting) was teaching swim lessons to 3 and 4 year olds. I was 14 and got paid under the table. I loved it.

3. I've been to about 12 countries, and have lived in 4 different countries (including Italy, Japan and England).

4. I can blow bubbles off my tongue. My dad thinks it's gross.

And now, it's time for me to TAG you! and I TAG...

A Wedding in Hawaii, How Original

s + d- The DIY route to wedding planning!

Budget Savvy Bride

so get to blogging!

Family Olympian

This post is totally not wedding related, but I had to brag! My cousin, Jamie Beyerle, had the honors of representing the United States in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. How awesome is that?! While she did not medal, she came very close, twice and got a personal best. I am very proud of her! Here are some news clips about her and her sport (I know nothing of her sport, so it'll be more accurate coming from the news than from me):

BEIJING, China (August 9, 2008) The first day of the shooting competition at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China was contested Saturday with Jamie Beyerle (Lebanon, Pa.) and Jason Turner (Rochester, N.Y.) turning out impressive performances, each finishing in the fourth spots in the respective events.

In Women’s 10m Air Rifle, Beyerle claimed fourth place, barely out of medal contention, shooting a qualification score of 397, a final score of 102.8 for a total of 499.8.

This is the best I have shot since the World Cup USA last year, so I am really happy with it, Beyerle said following her fourth place finish.

BEIJING, China (August 14, 2008) Jamie Beyerle (Lebanon, Pa.) barely missed out on earning a spot on the medal podium today in the Women’s 3 Position Rifle event. Beyerle entered the final with a score of 586, just three points out of first place, which was held by China’s Du Li. Despite shooting an excellent final score of 100.9 and standing in second place overall going into the final shot, Beyerle fired a score of 8.7, which wasn’t enough to land her on the podium and she finished in fifth place with an overall score of 686.9.

It was a great match. I am disappointed, but to finish in fifth place isn’t bad and its really been a great experience overall shooting at the Olympics Beyerle said.

Some random site also named Jamie one of the top 26 Hottest US Olympic Women: Campus Squeeze

Keep an eye out for this girl in the 2012 Summer Olympics! I know she'll be kickin' some arse! Hopefully I'll be in London to watch it!